They tell me that a standard movie of this length has about a hundred-odd
days, but I cast really good actors and not only were they really good but I
made sure as much as I could beforehand that everybody was nice.”
THE EDIT ROOM
Editing, says Kaufman, was particularly important. “I think every movie that
I’ve worked on I’ve been involved in the editing and they’ve all had a lot of
editing time. Apart from Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind, I wasn’t involved
in that. Because Spike and Michel Gondry [director of Eternal Sunshine]
were interested in my being involved, I got a lot of experience in editing and
I do think it’s profoundly important to the film,” he says. “Everything happens
in the editing room and it can be very exciting there and, you know, you can
solve a lot of problems there and there are cheap ways to fix things that don’t
involve reshoots.”
KAUFMANESQUE CINEMA
Since 1999’s Being John Malkovich, Kaufman has been heralded as a truly
original voice in cinematic storytelling, yet he says he’s wary of the term
‘Kaufmanesque’ and similar labels. “I don’t ever think about that stuff,” he
says. “Just in the way I don’t ever think about what the structure of a
screenplay is supposed to be. I’m not interested in it, and I’m not trying to
subscribe to a form. I’ve got these tools at hand – the writing, and ultimately
working with actors and the filming of something – what can I do with these
things to make something that seems interesting to me? I guess what I’m
saying is there’s a certain flattery to the Kaufmanesque thing but it’ll turn
around and stab you in the face. I really, really want to separate myself from
all of that stuff and just be serious about my work and have that be what I do.
It’s kind of a creepy business.”
Kaufman is currently writing something new, which is another feature he
thinks will be one for himself to direct. But although he says it’s going to be
funny – “I hope” – he says it’s too early to talk about: “I had to say that this
one [Synecdoche, New York] was a horror movie when I first started talking
about it and then I had to backtrack for the next two years. But I’m trying to
write a comedy now.” ■
inmotion I 21
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